BOSTON (AP) - Highlights of Gov. Deval Patrick’s State of the State address on Tuesday night:
- ECONOMY: Patrick said the state’s economy was strong, led by “innovation” industries including life sciences, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. But he also cautioned that income inequality has left too many people in the state behind, and that for many of those people, the recession has not ended. While the most important solution was economic growth, he called on the Legislature to increase the minimum wage. He also called for changes in the state’s unemployment insurance system to help encourage the hiring of the long-term unemployed.
- EDUCATION: Patrick called for strengthening early education and making all-day kindergarten available to all children. He also called on the Legislature to provide enough funding for the state’s public colleges and universities to maintain a freeze on tuition and fee increases. While boasting that Massachusetts students post some of the best test score results in the country, he conceded that an “achievement gap” leaves many students behind.
- TRANSPORTATION: The governor called on the Legislature to pass a transportation bond bill so the state can move forward on a number of projects, including commuter rail service to the South Coast area, the extension of the MBTA’s Silver Line to Chelsea and the rebuilding of the Interstate 91 viaduct in Springfield.
- DCF CRISIS: Patrick made only brief mention of Department of Children and Families, under scrutiny after social workers lost track of a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy who has been missing since September and is feared dead. The governor, who called the lapse “inexcusable,” vowed to strengthen the agency.
- MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: Patrick touted his administration’s partnership with local cities and towns, saying local aid and education funding had grown by more than $500 million since he took office and that pension reforms had also saved money for communities. He called on municipal leaders to work with him in reforming health care for retirees to make the system “fiscally sustainable.” He also called on them to hold the line on property taxes.
- LEGACY AS GOVERNOR: Patrick, who is in the final year of his second term and is not seeking re-election, thanked the people of Massachusetts at the conclusion of his speech. He said he expected that serving as governor would be the greatest honor of his professional career, but did not realize it would be “so enlightening, so humbling, and so much fun.” He called the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombings the most trying moment of his time in office, but added that he could not have been prouder of the way the city and the state came together in the aftermath of the tragedy.
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